[daviddoria]

Am I doing this right?
(using a QTron+ and a Behringer 1202FX)

I plug my mic straight into channel 1... then "FX Send" on the mixer out to "FX input" on the pedal, then "FX output" back to channel 2 of the mixer?

It doesn't seem to do anything when i engage the pedal when it is setup like that, so clearly it is wrong!

any hints?

Thanks,

David

 

[hakukani]

Am I doing this right?
(using a QTron+ and a Behringer 1202FX)

I plug my mic straight into channel 1... then "FX Send" on the mixer out to "FX input" on the pedal, then "FX output" back to channel 2 of the mixer?

It doesn't seem to do anything when i engage the pedal when it is setup like that, so clearly it is wrong!

any hints?

Thanks,

David

I believe the FX send is post fader. In that case the channel one fader must be up for the send to work. Also, does the FX send have a Master fader?

Try this to trouble shoot:

Put on a pair of headphones. Plug in your mic to channel 1. Pan channel 1 left. Connect the FX send to channel 2. Bring up the FX send on channel 1, and pan channel 2 to the right. Try to balance the signals between the left (channel 1) and the right (channel 2).

Once you are successful at that, pull the connector out of channel 2 line input, and plug that into the input of your Qtron, and then go from the output of the Qtron into channel 2.

Now you should hear the 'dry' (unaffected) sound in your left headphone, and the effected sound in your right. You may have to adjust for a signal loss through the Qtron.

N.B. Don't turn the FX send up on channel 2! This creates an internal feedback loop.

Good luck.

 

[daviddoria]

hmm ok that got me a little closer.... some more issues though

1) if i wasn't using headphones, would i just send the right main out to the speakers?

2) anytime i get it so that it is making some kind of an effect, the "overload" light on the qtron+ turn on. Is this supposed to happen? I can get it to turn off by turning down the channel 1 gain, but then i stop hearing the effects.

thanks,

david

 

[hakukani]

1) yes.

2) FX loops are a kind of balancing act. You want send sufficient signal to the Qtron to activate it, but not enough to overload it. So, set the gain on Channel one just below the threshhold of the overload light activating, and increase the 'volume' using the main fader on channel 2 (which is acting as your FX return).

 

[daviddoria]

ahhh ok getting much better... sounding like a wah yayyyy

i have just been testing with my voice - tomorow i'll go try it out with a horn.

in the mean time... this whole thing seems like it would be very very difficult to switch on and off... i mean during a show, i cant just step on the pedal, i'd have to totally mess with like 4 knobs to get it set properly - surely there is an easier way??

 

[hakukani]

ahhh ok getting much better... sounding like a wah yayyyy

i have just been testing with my voice - tomorow i'll go try it out with a horn.

in the mean time... this whole thing seems like it would be very very difficult to switch on and off... i mean during a show, i cant just step on the pedal, i'd have to totally mess with like 4 knobs to get it set properly - surely there is an easier way??

Set it up properly, and just turn the effect on or off at the return (channel 2)--or doesn't the Qtron have an in/out switch?

 

[daviddoria]

right right, it has a foot switch, but that just turn off the effect (clearly haha) - the problem though is that i have to turn the channel 1 volume down suuupuer low (even with the trim on the mic almost all the way down). i guess i was just whining more than anything - i can clearly turn a couple of knobs, i just wanted to be lazy and just step on a pedal to turn it on/off, like guitar players do!

thanks for the help - i'm gona try it for real tomorow and record the results - i'll be sure to upload them once i do

Thanks

David

 

[vermontsax]

the problem though is that i have to turn the channel 1 volume down suuupuer low (even with the trim on the mic almost all the way down). i guess i was just whining more than anything - i can clearly turn a couple of knobs, i just wanted to be lazy and just step on a pedal to turn it on/off, like guitar players do!

I'm not clear on your problem. With this current setup, you should be able to turn the effect on and off with the foot pedal. The "Off" setting should be just a bypass - feeding your dry signal back to the Behringer.

Is the problem that the signal is too weak after turning the pedal "Off"? If so, check out the "Boost", "Gain", or "Volume" setting on your effect pedal. Lower any or all of these until you are able to bring the entire system into balance with or without the effect.

"Gain" usually refers to an increase in the input signal prior to the effect being added to the signal (like a pre-amp). It boosts the incoming signal. Using your setup, I would think (you should test it though) that you should be able to turn the gain all the way down on the pedal and adjust the input using your Behringer's fader.

"Volume" usually refers to an increase in the signal after the effect is added. Again, because you are sending that output back to the Behringer, I would think that you can lower this to next to nothing and adjust with the Behringer.

I'm not sure how "Boost" plays into this but if it boosts your output, you really don't want that unless you are looking to increase your volume every time you're using this effect.

In these ways, you can hopefully balance the system so you won't have to readjust things every time. I use an effects loop and am able to change effects live without volume differences. This takes some initial setup playtime like what you're doing now but it does work. I hope this helps.

- Mike

 

[daviddoria]

ok great, i've got the volumes much better matched now... however, one more question..

currently i have channel 1 panned all the way left, the left out going to the pedal then to channel 2 input, and then channel 2 panned all the way right. this works out great in the headphones, but for real i'll have to choose which out to run to the main speakers. was all this panning just for trial purposes? is this fixed simply by keeping both channels pan in the middle?

thanks

david

 

[hakukani]

Channel 1 is the dry (uneffected) sound. You can certainly put a percentage of that in your mix, if you want. It's just one more thing to balance.

Ain't mixing fun?

 

[vermontsax]

Panning for Gold

Channel 1 is the dry (uneffected) sound. You can certainly put a percentage of that in your mix, if you want.

This is true. It's all about what you want to hear in the mains and how you are running the mains from the mixer - in Stereo or Mono

In Mono, you would send only one output (Left or Right) to both mains -usually wired as Mixer Left (or Right) OUT -> Amplifier MONO IN, Amplifier MONO OUT-> Speaker 1 -> Speaker 2.

I'm not positive but I do think that many amplifiers will "sum" the signal for you (i.e. take two signals and put them together into one mono signal). The wiring is slightly different:
Mixer Left OUT and Mixer Right OUT -> Amplifier Left IN and Amplifier Right IN respectively, Amplifier MONO OUT -> Speaker 1 -> Speaker 2.

In both of these examples, the sound coming out of the Left speaker is the same as the sound coming out of the Right speaker.

In Stereo, one speaker is designated as Left and one speaker is designated as Right. You feed two inputs to the amplifier - one gets sent to the Left speaker and one to the Right speaker. The wiring is like this:
Mixer Left OUT -> Amplifier Left IN, Amplifier Left OUT -> Left Speaker
Mixer Right OUT -> Amplifier Right IN, Amplifier Right OUT -> Right Speaker

My recommendation to you is to run in a MONO configuration. Send the RIGHT output from the mixer to the amplifier. If you don't want any dry signal, keep both channels panned as you have them. To add some dry signal, adjust Channel 1's pan to the right until you have the desired sound. You will likely have to mess with your volume settings again after doing this as you'll probably knock them out of balance.

Have fun with it. Be sure to record your settings once you've tweaked them (knobs sometimes move in transit).

- Mike